274 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



fat column subtracted from the number opposite the upper line 

 of the butter fat column gives the reading and the proper test. A 

 pair of dividers or an ordinary compass will be found handy for 

 quick and accurate reading. Record the test in a record book 

 where it will be used in connection with the amount of milk pro- 

 duced by each cow. This completes the operation. The glass- 

 ware should be thoroughly washed with soap and hot water and 

 rinsed with hot water and kept in a clean place ready for the next 

 test. 



THE DAIRY COW. 



(By Hon. W. W. Marple, Chicago.) 



A lawyer once said he would rather defend a guilty man than 

 an innocent one, because if he lost the case he didn't feel so badly 

 about it. This explains my situation exactly on this occasion. The 

 most eminent surgeon never presumes to perform an operation on 

 his own kin. His sympathy unnerves him and his fear of a mis- 

 take unqualifies him for doing good work, so I ask your indulgence 

 tonight for any mistake I may make in presenting the claims of 

 "The Missouri Dairy Cow," on the grounds of my close relation- 

 ship to her and her keeper. A darkey was asked once if he 

 could have three wishes granted what they would be, and without 

 hesitation he said he would take, first, ten barrels of whiskey, 

 then he would take ten boxes of tobacco, and then he hesitated for 

 some time and said : ^'I believe I would take another barrel of 

 whiskey." If I could have three wishes granted, in the interest of 

 Missouri, I would make my first choice a dairy herd for each 

 farm in the State; my second choice, a silo for each herd, and my 

 third choice, a few more cows. I acknowledge as an additional 

 cause for embarrassment tonight the personnel of this audience 

 who demand a reason for the faith that is within them and I re- 

 alize that the influence of your verdict will be felt far beyond the 

 confines of these walls, and the ultimate decision of a question more 

 important to this State than we can conceive will be materially af- 

 fected by this verdict. If any further evidence of my position on 

 the question of the dairy cow for Missouri is needed, I would 

 say that I believe a failure to encourage the most generous intro- 

 duction of dairy cows into this State is absolutely criminal, and 

 that any citizen of this great commonwealth to whom has been 

 given a position of trust, in any way discourages the develop- 



